Keep track of how you
use your car(s) on a weekly basis. You might see that you are often using a large car when you could
be using a very small car. Getting groceries, picking up kids, going to the doctor's--these are often errands which
don't take us far from home, or require speeds more than 40MPH. Perhaps you could substitute
a tiny car, a sort of enclosed motorscooter for these situations--a microcar.
Frustrated with the price of my Toyota's fill-up, I built a microcar in my
garage over the 2005-6 winter. It's no beauty queen I admit. I used $2500 in materials and about 1000 hours
of labor. Named "Moonbeam", it weighs 400 pounds, gets 85 MPG around town and 105 MPG on an economy
run.
I know that most people are not about to take on such a project--satisfying though it's been-- but I am hoping
that within a few years, such cars will become common. When they do, we will use only a fraction of the resources
and fuel to move our bodies around, and be rewarded by spending only $5 for a fill-up.
This website has gotten pretty bulky, since I love to write.
So, to get an overview, just look at the pictures and specifications, and later, if you have the time and interest,
dig deeper. The page, "How to build Moonbeam" was the original centerpiece of the site.
If you want to see what Moonbeam led to in the years following, see Dirigocar.com
and Sunbeamcar.com for details
